State representative from Racine slams Waukesha water deal with Oak Creek

Count state Rep. Cory Mason (D-Racine) among opponents of the City of Waukesha's deal to buy Lake Michigan water from Oak Creek, particularly if Waukesha's wastewater is discharged to the Root River.

Both the Waukesha and Oak Creek common councils Tuesday approved a 40-year plan sending up to an average of 10.9 million gallons a day of lake water inland to Waukesha by mid-century.

Waukesha officials said Tuesday that the greater distance of building a pipeline to Racine put that city at a competitive disadvantage with Oak Creek.

The announced water deal is dependent on Wisconsin and the other seven Great Lakes states approving the historic diversion of water across the subcontinental divide separating the Lake Michigan and Mississippi River watersheds.

Though Mason did not speak publicly against the proposal in the last year while Waukesha negotiated a water deal with both Oak Creek and Racine, Mason said Wednesday he has long opposed Waukesha's request for lake water.

"I believe this deal violates the Great Lakes Compact and is a bad deal for Racine," Mason said.

Mason believes the proposal violates the regional compact because he is not convinced Waukesha has no other sustainable long-term water supply options available to it other than tapping into Lake Michigan.

The compact requires a community seeking a diversion outside the Great Lakes basin to make that case, he said.

Mason also questioned where Waukesha would discharge treated wastewater so that it returns most of the water to the lake as required by the compact.

"Racine is not Waukesha's toilet," he said in a news release, referring to a possible wastewater discharge to the Root River.

"If Waukesha gets its way, it could flush 10.9 million gallons of treated sewage down Racine's Root River every single day," he said in the statement.

Mason is concerned that the additional volume could increase flood flows on the river and degrade water quality in the stream.

About Don Behm

Don Behm reports on Milwaukee County government, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, the environment and communities in southeastern Wisconsin. He has won reporting awards for investigations of Great Lakes water pollution, Milwaukee's cryptosporidiosis outbreak, and the deaths of three sewer construction workers in a Menomonee Valley methane explosion.